At the time of writing this, I had been writing for 63 days, with this post’s original draft being day 64. Now I’m up to 94 days/videos, and will write for day 95 later this afternoon. You can even check out the video of me writing this down below. Because I’ve been doing really well at this new writing practice, I wanted to share the steps that helped me get to where I am now.
Decide you’re going to do it
I don’t mean “just do it” like the Shia Lebeouf bit, but I’m really serious. You have to make the decision for yourself that you will write every day. It has to be meaningful to you; otherwise you’re not going to have a reason to do it, and the motivation is going to run out sooner or later. But while finding a meaningful reason to start a writing practice is essential, don’t let it delay you from actually starting.
Find a general time frame that works for you
So far I’ve been writing in the afternoons and evenings, depending on the day. What you want is to find a time frame to write in, one that is flexible enough that you can adjust it to match your day-to-day schedule. What matters is that you find the time to write, both the time during the day and the time amount. I started off writing for mainly 30 minutes a day, with the occasional 45-minute session. But recently, I started writing for an hour on Mondays through Thursdays in order to get through my current TV show faster. I would also like to recommend Vclock as an excellent online countdown timer. It’s easy to use and has worked really well for me. It also doesn’t have tons of needless ads like the previous timer I used.
Figure out where you’re going to write (what software will you use)
For anyone who writes primarily by hand, I salute you. I do that when I’m traveling or away from my computer for an extended period of time (so I always keep a notebook and pen at hand). These days, I spend most of my writing time on the computer. I was on Evernote, and now I write on Notion. Figure out the word processor that works best for you, one that will allow you to save and store your writing so you don’t have to go hunting for the docs or lose them altogether (like I did).
If you’re like me, create an entertainment schedule and options list
Writing without additional entertainment is possible. It’s just not my favorite way to do it. So when I decided I was going to write daily, I had to figure out how to keep the noisy part of my brain quiet so I could focus on writing. I wrote a blog post about it here, and you can watch the the TikTok video I made about it. When I started, I knew I would need to keep track of what I had played so I wouldn’t forget what I had watched. I also knew I wanted to switch up what I was watching and listening to.
The schedule that I use is on Mondays-Thursdays, I have a TV show episode (or episodes) playing. On Fridays, I have a portion of a movie (fitting my 30-minute timer). Saturdays are a wild card. I can either listen to a selection of music (on Spotify with my playlist on shuffle), or watch another movie. Right now, I’ve been doing a switch-off every other week. Sundays are still movie days, though often fitting a more “Sunday appropriate” theme.
With the current strike in Hollywood, I am putting a pause on my regular entertainment schedule. Instead, I’m only showing Asian dramas and going episode by episode. It’s been nice to share a different variety of entertainment that I enjoy, and once the strike ends, I plan to resume my regular schedule.
Come up with what you’re going to write, and then go for it
Something I started doing recently is that I outline my posts before I write. I come up with the topic and the outline before I start writing. Writing with an outline allows me to write and fill in the sections of the outline like a puzzle. It works really well at breaking down what needs to be written, and turning the experience into more of a game. It also keeps me on track so I don’t get distracted and start rambling in the middle.
Don’t break the streak
The final, possibly most important thing you should do when creating a daily writing practice is that once you start, your only goal is to not break the streak. Maintaining the writing practice is far more important than how much is written or the quality of the words. Those can both be improved over time, but only if practice is consistent.
I’ve grown so much in the last three months since I started practicing daily, and though there were really good days, there were also some pretty low days. But by showing up every day, those highs and lows evened out, and I can see the improvements I’ve made. They keep me motivated in the long run, and I look forward to seeing how much more I can improve.
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